St. Francis Monastery

The first priests to serve
Munjor came from Herzog or Hays and it was not until a suitable residence was
built that Munjor finally had its own permanent priest. In April, 1901, the
church committee requested to have a priest with a permanent residency in
Munjor, and the Capuchin Father agreed, once a monastery was built that could
house a number of friars. On May 26, 1901, they shared the plans with the parish
members, and the very next day the men began to
haul stone to build a residence for priests. The building was completed June
1, 1902, and on August 9, Fr. Chilian and his assistant, Fr. Theodosius, moved
into their new home.

When you walk around and look at this impressive
two-story building, you will notice the limestone rock is the same as that used
for the church, schoolhouse and convent. Over the 50 years the monastery was in
use, it was the home for many Capuchin theological students, friars or Capuchin
brothers who may have been ill and needed a peaceful and quite place to rebuild
their health. The beautiful vegetable gardens and fruit trees tended by the
Capuchin friars provided a relaxing and restful place. The last priest to live
in the home was Father Kenan Crowley in 1965. When the arrangements for the school
changed in 1967 and the nuns were no longer affiliated with the parish, they
moved out of the convent and that building became available for use as the
parish rectory and residence for priests.

One interesting fact about the monastery is
that it also was used as a brewery by the Capuchin friars. The art of brewing
their own homemade beer was a custom the friars had brought with them from
their native Bavaria. They converted an old icehouse into a brewery cellar and
in January 1904 they obtained the necessary equipment and ingredients to start
making their own beer. When prohibition came to Kansas in 1917, brewing at the monastery
came to an end.